THREATEN

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does threaten mean? 

• THREATEN (verb)
  The verb THREATEN has 3 senses:

1. pose a threat to; present a danger to

2. to utter intentions of injury or punishment against

3. to be a menacing indication of something

  Familiarity information: THREATEN used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• THREATEN (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they threaten    ... he / she / it threatens   
Past simple: threatened   
Past participle: threatened   
-ing form: threatening   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Pose a threat to; present a danger to

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

endanger; imperil; jeopardise; jeopardize; menace; peril; threaten

Context example:

The pollution is endangering the crops

Hypernyms (to "threaten" is one way to...):

be; exist (have an existence, be extant)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s to INFINITIVE

Sense 2

Meaning:

To utter intentions of injury or punishment against

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

He threatened me when I tried to call the police

Hypernyms (to "threaten" is one way to...):

warn (notify of danger, potential harm, or risk)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "threaten"):

offer (threaten to do something)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody with something
Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sentence example:

Sam cannot threaten Sue

Sense 3

Meaning:

To be a menacing indication of something

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Context example:

Danger threatens

Hypernyms (to "threaten" is one way to...):

augur; auspicate; betoken; bode; forecast; foreshadow; foretell; omen; portend; predict; prefigure; presage; prognosticate (indicate, as with a sign or an omen)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s something

 Context examples 

“You shall prove this, you Copperfield!” said Uriah, with a threatening shake of the head.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

No harm seemed to come of it, while the noises the gods made were certainly not threatening.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Signs and symptoms usually appear early in life and vary from mild to life threatening.

(Methylmalonic Acidemia, NCI Thesaurus)

Besides, it was not the life of the herd, or of the young bulls, that was threatened.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

Degenerative nerve diseases can be serious or life-threatening.

(Degenerative Nerve Diseases, NIH)

I can't get a word from him, and when I threatened to shake the truth out of him he bolted upstairs and locked himself into his room.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

The condition of weighing two, three, or more times the ideal weight, so called because it is associated with many serious and life-threatening disorders.

(Morbid Obesity, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

Most patients experience a mild to moderate reaction; however, the reaction may be severe and life-threatening.

(Cytokine Release Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)

Critical care helps people with life-threatening injuries and illnesses.

(Critical Care, NIH)

We are all threatened, answered the tiger, by a fierce enemy which has lately come into this forest.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)